Fox

If there’s one arrival Gotham fans are more excited for than The Dark Knight himself, it’s the return of Cameron Monaghan’s proto-Joker “Jerome.” 2017 trailers made clear we’d see the character again, but does a new premiere photo from “Smile Like You Mean It” reveal a familiar faceless grin? Might there be a bizarre tie-in with The Dark Knight itself?

Now that Gotham has officially signed off for 2016 with midseason finale “Beware the Green-Eyed Monster,” it might take a green-haired one to bring fans back in January. So it is, that the first 2017 trailer for Gotham Season 3 teases Cameron Monaghan’s return as the Joker-esque “Jerome.”

Even for Gotham, the decision to rapidly age its young proto-Poison Ivy into a mature villain raised more than a few eyebrows. Now that Season 3 has premiered, however, kicking off the transition from teenage actor Claire Foley to the adult Maggie Geha, producers have swung back to the awkward explanation that “everyone was much more comfortable” with an age-appropriate star using Ivy’s comic seduction.

Not that Gotham has ever stood as a pillar of comic adaptations, but executive producer Bruno Heller made some surprising comments in recent weeks, to suggest “I don’t think superheroes work very well on TV” overall. Now, producers attempt to clarify the remarks, saying “some things are better executed in film and some things are better executed in TV.”

FOX’s Gotham has more than a few monsters to contend with in its early Season 3 episodes, before eventually introducing Walking Dead star Benedict Samuel for its take on Batman villain The Mad Hatter. This version is nowhere near as colorful (or grating) as Johnny Depp’s, however, as made clear in the first official footage.

The Court of Owls have yet to make it into any live-action incarnation of Batman, so will Gotham Season 3 do the group justice, or at least bring them to it? Get a taste in the first clips and photos from Monday’s premiere, along with an introduction for Jamie Chung’s Valerie Vale.

FOX’s Gotham has never exactly been the paragon of patience, waiting all of 15 episodes before introducing a proto-Joker to its young Bruce Wayne. The same holds true of Season 3, as even death won’t keep Cameron Monaghan’s “Jerome” from confirming a return appearance.

The second season of FOX’s Gotham ended on the notably WTF sight of a long-haired Bruce Wayne emerging from the bus of Indian Hill escapees, a figure prominently playing into Season 3 promotion thus far. Any number of explanations could account for a Bruce Wayne doppelgänger, but per a revealing new interview, we’ve actually already seen where the mystery double came from.

We’re closer than ever to the third season premiere of FOX’s Gotham, and the monsters are coming out of the woodwork. See for yourself, as everyone from Penguin to Bullock take the spotlight in new character trailers for the September 19 premiere.

The moment DC TV power-player Greg Berlanti had in mind to develop Black Lightning as its own series, we knew it’d move fast. So it is, that FOX has nabbed the new DC drama, with a pilot production commitment for the future.